Is it just me or does every long range hunting bullet compromise too much in some category? Will we ever see one that truly does it all?

[Tulsa Reiner]

Guilty!

AKA, Feenix the Fox.

 

[albert. taylor]

Cant beat a good ole nosler partition.

 

[josip89]

Some combination of Partition and eld x m or berger would be very good hunting lr bullet.

Partition with plastic tip and boat tail.
Very good BC and works up close and far away

 

[Greyfox]

The closest bullet, to what I would consider a "do-it-all bullet" is unfortunately, no longer commercially available. Back in 2011, the late, Steve Mullholland(Swampy) produced the JLK 142g VLD exclusively for one of the Custom LR rifle suppliers, Best of the West. My wife bought me one of their rifles for my birthday. Along with it came a few boxes of their custom ammo. Not only would this rifle/ammo combo keep 5 shots inside a 5" target at 1000 yards(still does), but the performance on game whether 200 yards or 1000 yards was outstanding. Several bullets retrieved were perfect mushrooms with 60% retained weight. Game shot at shorter and longer distance dropped instantly, with no blow-up at short range or penciling at long range. Being exclusively a reloader, I was initially able to acquire these bullets from BOTW and build a stock, and ultimately purchased them directly from Steve. A couple of years prior to his passing, Swampy called me and asked if I was interested in buying his remaining stock of these bullets (1100ct)….Which I did with no hesitation. Just as an aside, Steve claimed that the performance, BC, and dimensions except for the extra 2g weight, were identical to his commercially available 140gr VLD's. While I have tried them, I didn't shoot much game with the 140's but it appeared his claim was accurate. Performance was quite similar. There are some interesting differences between the JLK and other high BC, VLD designs. Firstly, there is little to no variation in the weight or physical dimensions for all the 142's I had acquired, approximately 1800 total. They have a rebated boat tail, the swaged tips/meplats are identicle, perfectly finished, and tip filled with some sort of resin. The bullet finish is not highly polished/pretty. It is dull and looking somewhat hand finished appearance, showing mild polishing marks. Weights were within .1 gr. Lengths, all within .005", and BTO within .001". Finally and most notably, the G7 BC is an honest .323, one if the highest available in this weight/caliber(.264). This was confirmed at long range with four different 6.5x284's. All rifles produced sub .5 MOA. I have not cut one apart and studied it, but Steve did state that he used a J4 jacket. I treat these bullets like gold, only using them for hunting/testing. Hopefully my supply outlives me!
Of course this just one man's experience, but IMO, I believe it IS possible to produce a viable SR/LR bullet.
Shown: One of several JLK's retrieved from the chest cavity of a big bodied Alberta mule deer shot a 500 yards with a 6.5x284/3000FPS. Rear angle, entered just behind the rib cage. Bullet was against the inside chest cavity. DRT. 62% weight retention.

 

[Pmacc60]

It's funny, in over 35 years, I only bought 2 small boxes of Berger 22 when supplies were scarce. No experience with them. Just didn't like the yellow box!

That is one perfect explanation !

 

[Alex Wheeler]

"long range" sells. Its kind of like "tactical". The industry is being driven that way by demand. If you think about the hunting public the VAST majority are not shooting long range and should not be picking a long range bullet. Guys are obsessed with bc numbers and ballistic charts. If they would shoot more targets at realistic ranges they see how little the BC means until you actually get to long range which most guys will never shoot an animal out that far and probably shouldnt. Making an accurate long range bullet and consistent killing bullet are kind of at odds with each other.

 

[WYOHTF]

Since we are on the I wish: How about a bullet specifically designed for a specific cartridge's performance? For example, I want a bullet that is designed for 300WM so if you had a close shot at high velocity, the bullet would perform exactly how you want it to for that velocity. Bullets that are designed for calibers are a compromise for the worse case scenario of the most powerful cartridge in that caliber versus best performance for a cartridge. Cost? Who cares, this is a I wish!

"long range" sells. Its kind of like "tactical". The industry is being driven that way by demand. If you think about the hunting public the VAST majority are not shooting long range and should not be picking a long range bullet. Guys are obsessed with bc numbers and ballistic charts. If they would shoot more targets at realistic ranges they see how little the BC means until you actually get to long range which most guys will never shoot an animal out that far and probably shouldnt. Making an accurate long range bullet and consistent killing bullet are kind of at odds with each other.

I agree with these for sure. A lot of people don't like SSTs, but in a 308 the 165gr is an elk hammer out to 450yd. I believe it's the velocities of that cartridge that make it perform the way it does.
That doesn't mean it going to perform the same in some magnum.
I shot Partitions for years and still would if I could find some, cry out loud. They just flat work.